Blood Rage
by Chut Up Bushes
Summary: An alternate story to the end of Season 6. Tara lives, instead, though, Xander is shot, and this time, it's Anya who's evil. Characters like Riley's wife, Sam, and Dawn's friend, Janice, will play important roles. Please review!
1. Beginning

Anya was at the magic shop when it happened. She was working the cash register, as usual, knowing that she could always trust money, especially when she had a lot of it. Which she didn't, either, considering the Magic Box wasn't as popular around Sunnydale as it used to be. As she was flipping through the sparse twenty dollar bills, a sudden feeling of dread came over her, it was like evil and rage shooting at her from all corners of the world. It was so powerful, it took her breath away, her throat tightened up and she almost had to gasp for air. Anya looked around defensively, although she knew it had nothing to do with her, because she would already be dead. But somewhere here, in this little town, someone was going to be the target of that anger, and even though _Anyanka _wouldn't care, _Anya _did, and even if she hated to admit that, someone was in danger, and she had the queerest feeling that it was someone very close to herself.

Buffy and Xander were talking when it happened. A deep talk, may I add. And when Buffy went to hug her best friend, she got the least expected reaction. He tightened up in her arms and pulled away. She looked at him oddly, and realized he was saying her name and pointing behind her. She turned around and gasped. Warren stood there, gun in hand, black overcoat, all James Bond-y. Buffy stood up quickly and tried to shield Xander, although she knew Warren's sole purpose was to shoot her. But before Buffy could do anything, Warren's arm raised, and the barrel was pointed directly at her heart. This all seemed to be happening in slow motion, his index finger gradually putting more and more pressure on the trigger. Buffy dove forward at the last minute in an attempt to bring Warren and the gun down, but she missed, and the bullets flew through the air despite her effort. The disgusting maggot of a man took off, and Buffy would have gone after him if she hadn't realized that she didn't know where the bullets had gone. She gave herself a quick check over and sighed in relief that she was in fact bullet-free. But the relief didn't last all too long when she turned around. Xander- he was lying flat on his back in the grass. Defensive mode? No. Buffy rushed to his side, gaping wide-eyed at the bullet hole in his chest, bleeding like crazy. She put her hand over the hole, but the only thing that resulted in was getting her hands all bloody.

"Xander! Xander, come on!" Buffy yelled, which resulted in him half-blinking.

"B-b…" But Xander couldn't seem to get the words out of his mouth. And suddenly, the bleeding stopped, and Xander's eyes just stared blankly at the sky, his chest stopped raising with his breathing. And he wasn't. Buffy started crying because there was no use in yelling his name. He was, for sure…

"Buffy! Buffy, what happened?" Suddenly, Tara sank to Buffy side and stared at her, then Xander. "Oh my god." Tara put her hand over her mouth. "Is he-"

"Buffy! I called 911! Are you okay, is everyone okay, what-" But Willow stopped pummeling her with questions when she saw Xander. "No, no. He's not-"

"Dead. He's dead. Warren killed him." Buffy stated, like reporting to Willow that she had had eggs sunny side up that morning for breakfast. It was then Willow started crying and so did Buffy. Tara stepped back in the distance, her eyes stinging. She stared blankly at the sidewalk, then blankly at the person running down the sidewalk. Who would be jogging in their regular clothes, toward the house? And then Tara realized it was Anya. Oh god. She ran towards her, which probably didn't look too normal because her legs felt like rubber.

"Anya, just stay here." Tara grabbed her shoulders and halted her before she could come around the hedge and see the body. "You don't want to see-"

"No! Tara, why should I? I know something bad happened, I just need to help." Anya commanded, shoving past Tara and running around the hedge. She stopped. Willow and Buffy were huddled over something. But what was it? Tara was next to her again, and then she realized that two people were missing.

"Tara- where's Dawn?"

"At her friends, but Anya.."

"Okay, then, where's Xander?" Anya questioned, his name coming out a little choked. Tara looked at her.

"Um, Anya…" But Tara couldn't finish her sentence because she started crying. Anya looked at her, then look at Willow and Buffy and couldn't speak. She rushed over to them, and sank to her knees across from them when she realized they were huddled over Xander.

"What-" But Anya couldn't get the next word out. Xander stared lifelessly at the sky. She grabbed his hand. But it was too cold. Anya shook her head at the body as her eyes started as her vision became blurred. She looked at Buffy and Willow. Buffy looked back at her with hatred.

"Is this what you wanted, Anya? This? Xander, dead? Huh, I know you played a part in this! What- sex with Spike on a table isn't enough? You had to kill him?" Willow shouted.

"No! No, I didn't! I didn't want him dead…I…" Anya just stared at them as Willow shouted at her to go away. She backed away slowly, and, not caring anymore and full of her own rage, ran as fast as she could to the magic shop.


	2. My Turn

When Anya finally reached the Magic Box and attempted to slam the door, she realized that Tara was right behind her.

"Just leave, Tara. I know you're only here to yell at me just like your precious Willow. Whoo hoo, be happy since you two are apparently _again _the happiest couple on Earth since one of you isn't dead or because one of you didn't leave the other at the alter, not that you _could _do that since I don't think gay marriages are legal in the state of California!" Anya snapped.

"Anya- I'm not going to yell at you.. I just want to help." Tara tried explaining.

"Oh, yes. Tara- the peacemaker, Tara-the once who _understands _everyone's problems. Then tell me something, Tara, who do you think was responsible for Xander's death? Me, right? Me, because I wished he was dead?"

"No," Tara stated, "No, I don't blame you. _Warren _ was the one who had the gun. _Warren _was the one who pulled the trigger. _Warren _was the one who shot Xander. Not you, Anya. You didn't shoot Xander. _Warren _did. at this input of Tara's, Anya stared at her.

"Warren did this? Not some demon or vampire or random drive-by shooting? Warren killed Xander?" " And with those last two words, _killed Xander_, Anya started crying and ran out the stupid magic shop door. Tara felt as if she should run after her, but she knew Anya would probably want to be alone. So she just sat down on a chair, the one by the round, black and white checkered table- uh, eww. After what Willow had reported to Tara about Spike and Anya, she jumped up and away from the table and instead started to study the black arts books blankly. A large, fat, red-marker "NOT FOR SALE" sign was taped to the glass case- which was open. Wide open, and three spaces were gaping empty. Crap. She had though Anya's jacket seemed slightly bulky when she ran out the door. But, when did she have the time? Tara didn't wonder about that right now and took off for Anya's apartment.

Back at the apartment, Anya sat down on the floor and dropped the three books she had hidden in her jacket across the rug. It was all too easy to snatch them from the table, where she had been reading them earlier that day. Tara had been as blank as a sheet of paper. She had an idea, although she wasn't sure if it would work or not. Anya opened up the first book and put her hands to the page, thinking of just soaking up all of the words and information. It seemed to work, because she had a sudden surge of power, breaking a vase that she was just looking at. She did the same with the next two books, and felt like balls of energy were just running up and down her arms, cleaning out all the good she had left. With her new completely evil mind, Anya conjured up a locator spell, human rat skuzz variety, and with no effort found Warren. He seemed to be hiding out in woods near the edge of own, probably running from the revenge of all of Xander's friends. And ex-fiancées. Anya realized how far the woods are, but it also suddenly dawned on her that she could teleport. If her stupid brain had thought of that before, maybe she could have saved Xander. But that wasn't what she had to think about right now. Right now, she needed to think about how to torture Warren.

When Anya teleported herself to the forest, she found that she didn't have to waste her effort on looking for Warren because he was about sixty feet away from her, leaning against a tree. She crept slowly up to him, and how she was able to make no sound with all of the limbs and dead leaves surrounding her she was clueless to- but she continued. When she was about two feet away from him, she waved her finger at the sagging, lifeless branch hanging above his head. As Anya ticked her finger up and down, the could see a slow crack forming in the branch, creeping across it like a web. And finally, when Anya decided that it was taking too long, she ripped her hand across the air and finished the crack. The tree groaned in protest as the branch came crashing down, narrowly missing the completely oblivious Warren.

"What the hell?" Warren screamed, and took a gulp as Anya stood there, glaring at him. "Oh, man. Yo- Anya- I totally did not expect to see you here. I thought you didn't care about Buffy or her gang. Only about money and that stupid Xander."

"Well, Warren, you shot and killed that "stupid Xander" so, you could run or you could just let me kill you.." Anya snapped at the man, taking a step forward. An intimidated Warren took a step back.

"Oh shit, Anya, I totally did not mean to do that! I just meant to shoot Buffy, that's all. I swear." Warren claimed, still backing up. The look that was sprawled across his face was pure fear, his eyes wide, his mouth clamped shut.

"Don't care." Anya said simply, and flicked her hand up. Warren flew through the air and against a tree. Anya made him stay there by sending two nails she had in her pocket through the palms of his hands, pinning him to the tree. Warren screamed in pain, staring at his bloody hands in disbelief.

"My turn." Anya murmured, and pulled a sleek knife out from the inside of her coat. She walked slowly to Warren, dangling the gleaming knife in his face. He whimpered as she brought the tip of the knife to his forehead and pressed down hard, pulling the knife across his head slowly. Warren yelped as the blood from the cut began dripping down his face, and, as Anya had hoped, into his eyes. The fun was still to come, though. She stabbed him in the leg, just for fun, and left the knife there. Now, she raised her hand to the top of his head, just a centimeter above his hair, and shook her finger as if she was sprinkling dust all over his hair. She added the other hand, and with all her strength, flew both of her hands upward. Warren hollered insanely as his scalp ripped right off his head. And Anya laughed.

As Anya prepared for the next form of torture, she spotted Buffy and group running toward her. The stopped in their tracks when they spotted Warren, gaping at her.

"Oh my god. Anya-" Buffy started, but was interrupted.

"Watch," Anya whispered in an eerie voice, "This is the cool part." And she opened the palms of her clenched fists, and set Warren on fire.


	3. The Witch

Buffy and her tag-alongs still stood there, even after Warren had been burnt away to nothing. It didn't take long, thankfully, or Miss I'm-Gonna-Save-Everyone-Even-If-They-Killed-One-Of-My-Best-Friends would have found a way to save him. Willow was clinging on to Tara as if she was her life support, Buffy had the most disgusted look on her face, and Tara herself just stood there, staring at Anya with the most disappointed, yet, sympathetic look on her face. Anya smiled, a dark, tightlipped smile.

"Well, that was fun. Too bad you kids didn't get to join along." Anya smirked.

"Anya, you can't just kill a human like that! It's wrong!" Buffy exclaimed.

"It's wrong, it's wrong, bla bla bla. It's wrong what this _monster _did to Xander. He deserved to die."

"And be tortured?" Tara questioned. Anya stared at her with an icy glare.

"It was part of the package."

"Package? Anya- what's gotten into you? I know you're angry, but-" Willow started.

"But I can't let my anger out? I can't punish Warren for what he did? You can't stop me Willow. None of you can. Just accept that." Anya yelled harshly. With that, she winked out of sight and left the three of them standing in disbelief.

"I think she got all of that strength and power from the black arts books I saw missing. Her eyes- they were so- dead. And her lips were black. I don't think this is just Anya angry. It's Anya-."

"The witch," Willow interrupted Tara, "Anya the _evil _witch. And don't forget she still has her vengeance demon powers."

"We have to stop her," Buffy resolved, "Before she hurts people- or herself."

"Sure, but where do we start? We don't even know where she went." Tara said.

"Well, you could do a locating spell again, but knowing Anya, she's probably at the Magic Box." Buffy replied. Willow looked at her, skeptical.

"I think we should just go home first. You know, take a breather, greet Dawn…" Willow said the last phrase slightly out of breath.

"Oh, poor Dawnie. First Mom, now Xander…" Buffy sighed.

"I just can't believe that he's really gone. I mean, Xander. No more cheesy jokes. No more… anything." Willow stopped because her voice began to shake.

"Please," Tara begged, "Just don't channel your frustration the way Anya did."

They had already begun walking a while ago, and now they were at the edge of the woods, about a block away from the house. On the way there, they walked in silence, all distanced from one another, probably looking like a gang to other people. When they all entered the house, Dawn was sitting on the couch, watching Charmed. Didn't she already have enough demons in her life? Dawn looked up curiously as they entered, their faces somber and Willow's tearstained.

"Guys, where were you? What's wrong? Where's Xander?" Dawn's questions were like a drill going through Buffy's brain. She put an arm around her little sister.

"Dawn, I have to talk to you." Buffy said, leading her to the other room. Willow and Tara were left alone, and they simultaneously sat down on the couch. Willow let her head rest on Tara's shoulder, who stoked her hair.

"I think it's my fault." Willow whispered.

"What? Will- of coarse not! Warren killed Xander because he's insane. It's not your fault."

"No, not that. I know. I think it's my fault about Anya. I shouldn't have yelled at her, I think that's why she became so angry."

"Willow- Anya was already angry. Nothing you did or said made her kill Warren. Anya can't handle losing Xander because she loved him, even if she didn't want to admit it at the time. No words had any impact on Anya. She was too upset. Imagine if I lost you. I wouldn't be listening to people, I'd just tune them out because I was hurt." Tara explained as she hugged Willow.

"I guess." Willow said. It was then Buffy came into the room.

"How'd she take it?" Tara asked, "Is she okay?"

"Like any normal fifteen-year-old, I guess. She ran to her room and slammed the door. But I think she'll be okay as we all are when she gets over the shock." Buffy stated, sinking into the chair across from them. "She didn't ask about Anya, thankfully, because I'd have trouble explaining.

"Speaking of Anya," Willow questioned, "I wonder what she's doing now…"

Anya knew what she had to do. She almost had a checklist. She had to find a bigger place than her apartment or the Magic Box, one that blended in and hopefully, the identity kept secret from the Scoobies. She had to get witches and form a coven. She had to get more power. Lots more. And she had to resurrect Xander.

Now, Anya knew that she couldn't resurrect someone killed by natural causes (although she didn't consider murder too natural) but she had discovered that it's just very difficult.

Not many people knew this, but there was a way to bring people killed by natural causes back to life. Back in her early vengeance demon days, she had heard of it. It took a lot of power, true, but with the help of a coven that was checked off. It involved lots and lots of potions and herbs, time, and most importantly of all, a blood relative. She didn't know past that, like the actual ceremonial thing, but she knew that she needed a _living _blood relative. Knowing this would be slightly difficult, she decided to do that first.

Anya flashed away to Mr. and Mrs. Harris.


	4. The Visit

When Anya arrive at the house of the Harris', she took a deep breath. She knew she would have to be gentle… but the hell with that! She stomped into the house, not knocking. Xander's mom was on the couch, reading a magazine and watching _Martha Stewart_. She looked up, most likely expecting to see Mr. Harris, and gasped. She rushed to her feet.

"Oh, Anya, dear! How are you doing? You look sick, honey, here, sit down. I'm so sorry for what Xander did to you and what he put you through." Mrs. Harris fussed. Anya like the feeing that someone actually cared about her feelings for once. She had the urge to smile or even hug Xander's mom, but she stopped herself.

"It doesn't matter. Xander's dead. He was shot by an angry man named Warren who was really after Buffy." Anya stated harshly.

"Oh." Mrs. Harris said simply, and it took her a while to process Anya's words, but when she did, she started crying.

"No time for that." Anya scolded. "I'm going to bring Xander back to life and I need your help."

"What? What are you talking about?" Xander's mom said shakily.

"Magic is real and I'm recently a witch. You can resurrect people when you're a witch." Anya stated and hoped that Mrs. Harris would understand this hocus pocus.

"But… how? I'll help you, anything to get Xander back, but I don't really understand…" Mrs. Harris said, sounding confused.

"You don't have too. All that I need is a living blood relative of Xander's." Anya said, getting somewhat impatient.

"Um," Mrs. Harris said, contolling herself, "That's going to be a problem."

"Why? You're his mom!" Anya cried.

"Anya- my husband and I- we can't have children. We adopted Xander."

"WHAT?" Anya yelled, "YOU ADOPTED XANDER? Do you even know where his real parents are?"

"I'm afraid they both died in a car accident when he was only three months old. He didn't have any relatives, so he was put up for adoption. And we adopted him."

"That's great!" Anya shouted, "Now what am I supposed to do?"

"You mean," Xander's mom questioned, "You can't "resurrect" Xander?"

"No, you ditzy woman! Not without a living blood relative. Well, good deal with the coping thing." And that sudden, Anya was gone.

Back at the house, Dawn still had herself cooped up in her room, while Buffy starting going through her weapon chest. She suddenly stopped when she had the memory of Xander and Anya presenting it proudly to her on her birthday. She shut that thought out of her head long enough to grab an axe, three knives, three stakes (for potential vampires) and a sword.

"Whoa, Buffy, what's the need for all that?" Willow questioned cautiously. Buffy remained silent and tossed her and Tara a knife, which they were amazingly able to catch.

"Um, Buffy, what about Dawn? I mean, she can't just stay here alone. You know what's happened when she's done that before…" Tara said. At this, Buffy sighed and dropped her weapons.

"Looks like I have to have a little talk with her." Buffy whispered, almost as if she was regretting it, which, of coarse, she had every right to. But Buffy ignored her feelings and slowly made her way up the foreboding stairs, with Willow and Tara watching her inquisitively.

"Dawnie? Dawnie- please open the door. I have to talk to you." Buffy begged, and, to her surprise, she heard a click, and the door opened about an inch wide. She then just shoved the door open and waltzed into Dawn's room. Her little sister was on the bed, hugging a pillow to her chest and staring at the wall. Buffy sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Dawn- I know you're upset about Xander. But that's how it happened. _Someone _ was bound to be shot by Warren, and it could have been anybody." Buffy's words seemed to have no effect on Dawn. "Okay, look, Dawn, I'm just going to get to the point. We have something very serious going on right now. Not just Xander's death, but- Anya."

"Anya?" Dawn questioned panicky, "She's not dead, too, is she?"

"Oh, no, no. Of coarse not, but… Anya didn't handle Xander's death the same way we did." Buffy tried explaining, but Dawn just looked even more confused.

"Buffy- just tell me. I'm not five."

"Okay. Anya went a little crazy. It kind of complicated, but, she has more power now. She killed Warren. With magic."

"Cool! Did he suffer?" Dawn suddenly was excited.

"No, Dawn. Not cool. Warren was human, and it doesn't matter what he did. He didn't deserve to die like that." Buffy resolved.

"So he was tortured." Dawn murmured, rolling her eyes at Buffy's comment.

"Dawn- we have to stop Anya. Me and Willow and Tara. But it's too dangerous for you. Can you stay at Janice's again?"

"What? Buffy- she's Anya. I want to help."

"No, Dawn. Too dangerous. You're going to stay with Janice until we're sure everything is safe, okay?"

"Fine." Dawn rasped. Somehow, though, she knew it wasn't going to be safe for a long time.


	5. Mutiny

After Buffy had walked Dawn safely to Janice's, she went back home. Willow and Tara were sitting on the staircase, looking depressed, knife and stake in hand.

"Come on, guys, get up." Buffy insisted. "We have work to do." She handed Tara the axe and grabbed a sword for herself. Willow looked at her.

"What is all this for? And this time, can you answer me?" Willow asked harshly.

"Will- we don't know what Anya is capable of. I need you to be ready, you know, the witch kind of ready. We may need you." At this comment of Buffy's, Willow nodded and the three of them rose to their feet and out the door.

Anya was back at the magic shop, and this time, way more pissed of than before. Who would have known that Xander was adopted? Had Xander even known? This task was going to more difficult than Anya expected. But she had an idea.

That moment, the exact moment when she had that idea, Buffy and her little crew burst through the door with all their macho weapons.

"Oh, well, look at Three Musketeers. Have you come to kick my ass?" Anya questioned the three soldiers smartly.

"Anya, we want to help you." Buffy reasoned

"Oh, yeah, help me by, what? Sticking a sword through my heart, or maybe chopping off my head? Yeah, totally seeing the help."

"Anya-" Willow started, but was abruptly interrupted when she was flung against a wall. Tara rushed over to her, but Anya stopped her by doing the same. Buffy gawked at Anya. She raised her knife in the air and flung it at her.

"Now, why would you want to do that?" Anya smirked, stopping the knife in mid-air, and, with a twirling motion, sent it back at Buffy. She ducked just in time, the knife instead hurtling into the door. Buffy held her sword high as she rose back to her feet.

"Stop it." Anya said firmly, as if disciplining a badly trained puppy. She stepped up to Buffy and cornered her against a wall, where she wrapped her hands around her neck. Buffy protested, kicking at her, but Anya's grip around her neck was strong enough to kill. Buffy gasped for air, and just when she thought she was about to die, Anya suddenly went flying through the air and against the counter.

Buffy took a while to compose herself, taking deep breaths of air. She had never let that happen before, just let someone do that to her. But Anya was strong, really strong. Except, now Anya was lying limply on the floor by the counter, and both Willow and Tara were trying to get up. So who…

"I guess right now wouldn't be too appropriate to ask this, but, how are you doing Buffy?" Giles stood at the door, his hand still raised. He lowered it.

"Giles! I'm peachy." Buffy ran to him and hugged him. "What are you doing here?"

"The Council knew. Everything. They sent me to stop Anya." Giles reported. He had a distant look in his eyes.

"So… they knew. About Xander?" Buffy questioned gently.

"Yes." Giles walked over to Willow and Tara and helped them up.

"Giles!" Willow screeched, and jumped into his arms despite her many bruises. Tara looked at him awkwardly.

"Hey, Mr. Giles." She said, and he offered her a quick hug.

"Are you all okay, nothing broken?" Giles questioned, inspecting the three of them.

"Nothing broken, I don't think." Tara offered, although she said nothing about the "okay" part. They then all focused their attention on Anya.

"What are we going to do, Mr. Giles? Can you restrain her somehow?"

"Yes, Tara, I've gotten something ready. It's kind of like a bonding circle. It'll keep her there for now." Giles clenched his fists then closed his eyes. He moved his lips, murmuring something silently. He then opened his fists and directed the palms of his hands at Anya. A blue bubble-like substance floated to her, then around her. It then became dimmer and dimmer, until you couldn't see it. But it was there. Giles demonstrated by throwing a book at her. It bounced off the invisible wall.

"She can't get out, we can't get in." Giles stated.

Anya was thinking something else, though.


	6. Janice, Too

Anya was fully awake when Giles sent the bonding circle at her. But she didn't let them know. And she didn't try to get out of the way, because that would just cause much more trouble than she intended. The foolish Brit didn't know that Anya was a demon once again, and apparently, Buffy and her gang weren't going to spill it. How had they found out anyway? But, Anya did not worry about that now. She had seen once, the same bonding circle used on a witch in the 1800's, but as far as Anya knew, that bonding circle was for _witches_. It never indicated that it could also restrain demons.

Unfortunately, though, Anya had to wait. If she morphed into vengeance demon form now, in front of all of them, they'd be prepared when she burst from her "restrain." She would have to wait for the Three Musketeers to leave so it'd just be her and the old nag. Then, she could break away and hopefully drain the magical power from Giles. That way, she could have his power, and it'd be only Willow and Tara against her with their powers instead of Willow, Tara, and Giles. And Giles was more powerful than the two of them combined.

It seemed like a while, but was probably only about twenty minutes later when Giles convinced Buffy, Willow, and Tara to leave. After they had unwillingly walked out the door, the man gave a quick glance to Anya. She had opened her eyes now, and stared at him. He seemed slightly perplexed, probably because she wasn't trying to get out.

"Um, stay there, Anya." Giles stated stupidly. Like she had anywhere to go… The man walked into the backroom, plotting something. Here was Anya's chance.

She stood up and concentrated on morphing. She could feel her body slowly changing, and when she felt strong enough, walked through the bonding circle.

Dawn was getting anxious. She was at Janice's house, sitting on her friend's bed and eating Doritos. Janice looked at her. Ever since Dawn had arrived and Buffy had explained why she was there (well, not the Anya being a witch part) Janice had been acting very awkward. She said she was sorry about a million times, hugged Dawn like, a thousand times, and the rest of the time she was just sitting there in silence.

Dawn grew more impatient by the minute. She was curious. She was defiantly more curious than worried, because she knew Anya would never do anything to hurt Buffy or Willow or Tara, and vice versa. Right?

"Janice- I have to go. Now." Dawn said firmly.

"What? Dawn? Where?" Janice questioned, staring at her.

"To the Magic Box. I just have to see what's going on. I can't just not know. Because Buffy's probably not going to tell me."

"Dawn- what's really going on? I know that Xander died- I'm really sorry- and that your sister said they were going to go help a friend. There's more to it, isn't there?" Dawn sighed. Janice always seemed to know beyond the truth.

"Janice, it's complicated. Anya isn't coping the way we are. Uh, now I sound like Buffy. Um, look… do you remember Halloween?" Dawn questioned.

"Yeah, unfortunately. My date tried to bite me!" Janice recalled.

"Uh, he was a vampire. Vampires exist. And so do demons, and magic, and witches. Evil witches." Dawn gave it a shot.

"Get out! You mean, all of that exists, for real?" Dawn knew Janice would believe her. Janice was the kind who went to graveyards and did séances and stuff like that.

"Yeah, and Anya, she, well, she kind of is evil. An evil witch."

"Whoa. But I thought she was just evil in the sense if you took her money?" Janice pondered.

"Well, yeah, but when Xander was shot, she got power, and she used it for bad. Buffy and Willow and Tara are over at the magic shop now, trying to help her. But I need to be there. I'm curious." Dawn knew that telling Janice all of this was a risk, but she was her best friend. She would have had to tell her sometime.

"Okay. I'm coming." Janice said simply, grabbing her jacket. "Good thing my mom's on vacation in Maui for a week."

"Maui, now that sounds nice."

It was almost ten by the time they had gotten to the Magic Box, walking a little slower and more cautious in the dark. There had obviously been a fight by the looks of the place. There was glass and fallen beams from the ceiling sprawled across the floor. But at least it was fixable. Janice and Dawn were clinging to each other out of pure fear, and that's when they heard the groan. The two followed the noise into the backroom, where Giles was lying on the ground.

"Giles!" Dawn screamed, half worry, half surprise. She ran to him.

"Whoa. You _so _were not kidding." Janice remarked, staring at Giles in shock.

"Giles, are you okay?" Dawn questioned, helping him sit up. He stared at her.

"A little out of breath," as if on cue, Giles took in a deep breath, "But not dead. I'll recover."

"Thank god." Dawn sighed, hugging him. Janice just stood off to the side, feeling awkward.

"Who's that?" Giles questioned, motioning to Janice.

"No one." Janice looked insulted at Dawn's comment, "What happened?"

"Anya…" Giles took another breath, "She… um…"

"Janice knows. About everything. You can say it."

"She drained me. Of all my power. She has all my magic now, and she was talking about a coven, and finding somewhere to stay…"

"Don't worry about it." Dawn said. "We'll just tell Buffy and the others. I'm sure they'll be able to do something about it."

"I'm sure."


	7. And Her Eyes Grew Dark

Anya was on her way to the Bronze when she met him. Now that she had drained Giles of his power, her eyes had become even darker, and her hair looked as if someone had taken a black magic marker and attempted to do highlights. She was in an alleyway behind the Bronze when she spotted a man pacing back and forth, cigarette in mouth. As Anya was walking by, he eyed her intently. From the corner of her eye, Anya could see him looking her over. He was defiantly a demon. She could just tell. She stopped in her tracks and turned on her heels to face him.

"What do you want?" Anya demanded, being the one to eye him.

"So's," the demon questioned, "You're Anya, right?"

"How'd you know that, you stupid demon?"

"Now, now, no need to be harsh missus. Word gets around. I hears you been lookin' for a place." The demon replied.

"Oh yes? Well, I am. I don't really care how you knew that, I just need you to take me there."

"Okay, okay. It's down by the woods, 'bout the size of the Toy Warehouse downtown. Good location."

"Down by the woods? Yes, I guess it's a good location…"

"I mean, it's secluded. Nobodys knows about it cuz it can only be seen with the witch's eye." The demon winked and smiled hideously.

"Then," Anya questioned, "How do you know about it?"

"I gots background knowledge."

"Whatever. Can you take me there?"

"Sure as hell can."

"Wait- is there a catch?" Anya asked, thinking it was too easy.

"Look, missus, there's no catch. I just think yous could be the most dangerous thing in this here town. And I'd like to be known as the demon whos got you started." He smirked.

"Okay, take me there."

When Anya and the demon arrived at the place, it was nearing eleven, and pitch black. The moon had long ago hidden behind some foreboding clouds.

"This here's the place." The demon motioned to the large, rundown warehouse-type building sprawled out in front of them. "It's really big, and open. You could probably-"

Anya began walking towards the building, abruptly interrupting the bumbling demon. When she walked through the door, what she found was quite unexpected. Shabby, yes, on the outside, but the interior was beautiful. The door led to a wide, spacious ballroom, with two sofas opposite each other on each two of the walls. A fireplace completed the dream room. At the far end, a winding set of stairs made its way up to the second floor, than the third. Both floors wrapped around to make a square, balcony type structure. Anya gawked at the place.

"Wow." Anya couldn't help saying it. The place was amazing. The demon turned to her, looking like he was impressed with himself.

"I's told you's it was a beaut."

"Oh, shut up. You can't even speak right… so… I get this place for nothing? For free? Are you _sure _there isn't a catch?" She questioned uncertainly.

"Well… see's, since ya's gots no guy now…" The demon hinted, winking disgustingly at her.

"God, no, do you think I'm insane?" Anya laughed. She blew him up.

Thank god for cell phones, Dawn thought as Janice pulled hers out and offered it to Dawn. If only she had one…

After she called Buffy, Dawn went back over to Giles. He seemed better now, standing up (although leaning against the counter) and carrying on a full conversation about the supernatural with Janice.

"So, Giles… what was this about Anya?" Dawn questioned, causing Giles to look up.

"She said something about having to find a big enough place to hold her coven. And then she said she'd have to gather witches for the coven. She was a little confusing, probably just because I was a little woozy, and, she most likely was also, considering that was a huge overdose of magic."

"Coven?" Janice questioned.

And her eyes grew dark.


	8. Reese, Inya, and Ashan

It was about twelve-fifteen when Anya finally made it to the Bronze. She knew from experience that the Bronze had no set rules based on time. She had once partied with Xander and Willow till the early light of the next morning.

As soon as she walked into the bar, everyone stared at her. She ignored them, seating herself at a nearby table. Not five minutes after she had sat down, a young girl, about seventeen, granted herself the right of taking the seat across from Anya. Anya raised her eyebrows at the girl.

"Uh, can I help you?" She questioned somewhat harshly. The girl stared at her with penetrating green eyes. She had long, red hair that fell at her waist. She tossed it behind her shoulders.

"I heard that you were looking for some witches. You know, to form a coven." The girl whispered in an eerie voice.

"Well, I guess I won't be having any private conversations from now on." Anya sighed.

"I'm Reese." The girl then turned around and waved two other girls over, who looked about ten years older than her. "These are my friends, Ashan and Inya. We're… interested."

"Hmmm… how much skill do you have?" Anya asked curiously.

"Well, I'm definitely not as powerful as Inya, and Inya's defiantly not as powerful as Ashan." Reese whispered, although there was no need to. Anya studied Ashan. She had dark, almost black eyes, with black hair braided carefully to fall over her shoulders. She look she had in her eyes was powerful, very powerful.

"Deal. Come to my place in two days at seven. Bring any friends." The three girls nodded solemnly. Anya decided to go back to her new "home." Her intention was to have a few drinks and leave, but the drinks were ruled out after the meeting with Reese, Inya, and Ashan. She teleported to her place to follow through with the idea she had a while back.

Buffy and the others decided to go to the Bronze, hoping they could get some information from some of the local demons. She left Dawn and Janice with Giles, not trusting them considering they had run off already. But at least they had, or it would have been a while until they found Giles. It was nearing two in the morning, and Tara looked all together beat by the time they arrived at the still busy Bronze. She collapsed on a nearby couch, but offered to make conversation with anyone demon-y who walked by. Willow and Buffy continued to sort through the crowd, finally deciding to head separate ways in hopes of getting more information.

Tara was the first to start a conversation. He actually came to her, and she recognized him as a vampire when he sat down because of the stench of blood reeking from his breath.

"Yes?" Tara questioned, wondering why on Earth he would sit right next to her. "This is a public place, in case you haven't noticed. You're not going to try to attack me, are you? Because that would be rather stupid of you." The vamp sighed, disappointed.

"Actually, I was hoping to seduce you, than lure you outside into the dark alleyway and _then _suck your blood." He replied non-saliently.

"That wouldn't work unless you were a girl." Tara replied as the he got up to leave. "But, wait." He sat back down.

"Do you know anything about a witch?" Tara questioned.

"Possibly. What's the name?" He questioned. This vampire seemed all to polite.

"Anya. Have you heard of her?"

"Yeah. I have this buddy of mine, and he was going to show her a place down by the woods. For some coven crap or something. He said before he left that he thought she was going to be really powerful. Like, the big macho witch of Sunnydale or something. He said soon everyone would be talking about her." Why was this guy telling her all of this? Tara looked at him, skeptical.

"Where is it? I mean, exactly?" She questioned.

"Oh, no, pretty lady. Not going that far without a price."

"Fine. Name it."

"You're a little determined one, aren't you? I'd say a couple of Bloody Mary's." He reasoned.

"Small price to pay." Tara pondered.

"I like Bloody Mary's."

"Figures."

Willow spotted someone after about fifteen minutes of searching. She looked powerful. And she was definitely a witch. Buffy must have spotted her, also, because by the time Willow made her way to the girl, she was already holding up a conversation with her. Buffy looked up as Willow approached, and gave her a "I'm not getting anywhere" look. Willow walked up to them. The girl turned to her, looking her over. Buffy took her chance and pushed through the crowd to find someone who'd she be a little more successful with.

"Hey." Willow said to the girl, looking pretty normal with her blond hair pulled back in a ponytail and her blue eyes questioning the appearance of her. But she defiantly wasn't on the normal side.

"Um, I was just- noticing you talking to that girl. I just wanted to warn you because she can be slightly on the kooky side." Willow attempted. It was returned with the roll of the girl's eyes.

"Tell me about it. You know her?" The girl seemed friendly enough.

"Neighbors… so… what's your name?" Willow tried asking casually.

"Inya. I'm usually here with my friends, but they just left. What about you?"

"I'm Willow- I… I just decided to chill here for a while. You know, take things off my mind."

"Yeah…" Inya replied.

"So, who are you usually here with? I may know them."

"Oh, just a couple of buddies, um, Ashan and Reese. Sometimes this girl Nadia."

"I think I know Ashan. What does she look like?"

"Oh- long black hair, really dark eyes, kind of central-American looking…"

"Yeah, I hung out with her once. She seemed very strong…"

"Are you… never mind…" Inya stopped in mid-sentence.

"What?" Willow interrogated.

"Never mind… I have to go." Inya insisted.

As Willow watched her dash through the crowds, she decided she'd definitely keep an eye open for her.


	9. The Five Senses

By the time Anya arrived at her place, she was extremely excited. She'd never tried anything like this before, and it would definitely make a drastic change in her life if it did work.

She had gathered the herbs along the way, finding most of them right along the path in the woods, just growing like ordinary plants. She found the spell in one of the books she collected from the Magic Box, and the last thing, well, that was a little more difficult.

The last thing Anya needed was blood- Xander's blood. Since she had no idea who his doctor was, or if he even went to one, she thought she was screwed. But then, she remembered.

A while ago, Willow was doing an experiment for her Biology class or something in college. She wanted to compare a female's blood to a male's. Xander was very unwilling, but he finally gave in and they both went to the doctor's to get their blood drawn. After her presentation, Willow had given Xander his blood back in a little bottle (For a souvenir, she said).

All Anya had to do was go back to Xander's apartment and get it from his second desk drawer.

That's all she had to do- and even though she hated admitting it- it had stung when she had entered his place. It smelled like him, there was his stuff, but- she had other things to do. She didn't think about it.

By then, she had set the herbs down on the floor, carefully. The chant also needed a pentagon drawn on the location of the spell, with the blood. This had caused Anya a delay, considering no hardware stores were open at two in the morning. She just needed a sponge, or a paintbrush or something.

So back she went to Xander's. It didn't feel right, entering his home and taking his things. He was dead. She wasn't. That wasn't right. It was stupid. So she broke the first paintbrush she found, and was stuck to using a moldy sponge she discovered under the sink.

She tried to leave, but closing the door, paused. And for some unknown reason, Anya went back inside, to his bedroom, and fell asleep right there on his bed, under the covers. When she woke, it was nine in the morning, and not wanting to remember this, teleported back to her place in hopes of forgetting the whole ordeal.

Luckily, Anya remembered the sponge. She grabbed the small bottle of blood and poured it into a cereal bowl, dipping the sponge ever so carefully into it.

Once she had the pentagon drawn, she placed one herb on each of the corners of the pentagon.

It had to be dark, and thankfully, her new home had no windows except for the third floor, which cast only a small panel of light across the room.

Anya completed the design with lighting a black candle and placing it in the center of the pentagon. It was now time to start her chant.

She knew most spells to be in Latin, some in English, but this one, oddly was in German. She hoped it would work despite her ignorance of the German language. Anya took a deep breath and began the chant.

"Für gutes oder für übel

Für besseres oder schlechteres

Dieses Nehmeneffekt zu denen singen lassen,

Die ihn wünschen,

Um zu sein lassen

Diese Banngeburt eine neue

Seele von der Dämmerung der Toten und geben ihm das Recht,

Zu leben ein volles Leben."

Anya repeated it once more, then again. On the third time around, she dipped her fingers into the bowl of blood and sprinkled it across the pentagon.

A deep, low whirring sound started, and eventually grew louder and louder. It was like the sound a cat would make when threatened, almost like a warning growl.

A gentle breeze wrapped itself slowly around the room, causing the candle to flicker.

A bitter taste consumed the air, causing her to cough.

That was also when the smell came, a smell that was both like cinnamon, but at the same time, rotten eggs.

And then there was the cloud of sea-green mist that flowed around the room, twisting to every corner, and finally, settling over the pentagon like a low cloud.

And suddenly, the sound, breeze, taste, and smell went away. But the mist grew thicker, until it was a dense fog that Anya could barely see through.

It took about ten minutes to clear, but when Anya could see at least two feet in front of her, she realized something.

She was staring directly at the pentagon, where, on the floor, was her creation.


	10. She, Her and It

"I know where she is."

Everyone turned to stare at Tara with her sudden outburst. It had been two hours since they had come home from the Bronze, and she decided _now _would be a good time to mention it?

"W-w-well, I-I-I thought that I'd s-say something b-before you all got too tired." Tara stuttered in her nervousness, glancing around cautiously.

"Too tired?" Willow muttered, but sat up straighter on the couch.

"I met this vampire- he said his f-friend showed her this p-p-place down by the woods. But he hasn't seen him since."

"Who?" Buffy questioned.

"The vampire, h-he hasn't s-s-seen his demon friend since he showed her the place."

"Well, then, we have to go down there." Buffy stated.

"I don't know what she's planning…"

"We don't know how powerful she is."

"She could be hurting people…"

"STOP IT! JUST STOP IT!" All eyes fell on Willow as she slammed her coffee mug down. "Why are we doing this? Why are we doing this now? Xander's dead! He's dead, and all you can care about is rehabilitating her! She's not even our friend! She's been nothing but rude to us for the past three years and all you can think about is her? When Xander, our best friend, someone who could get along with almost everyone just died a few hours ago? What is wrong with you?"

Willow rushed out of the room to leave Buffy and Tara to regrettably consider what she had said.

Anya tore down a piece of drapery from a nearby window and wrapped it around her… creation. It stared up at her with deep brown eyes.

"Who are you?" It asked, leaping up and backing away from her. It cowered next to the fireplace. Anya walked over to it slowly.

"I'm Anya, and you're going to do everything as I say. But I won't hurt you, just listen. To me. So call me Anya. Not master or mistress or bla bla bla. Just call me Anya."

It seemed to calm down, sensing that Anya wasn't going to hurt it at all, but was more of a protection shield.

"What am I?" It questioned, peering at Anya.

"That's too complicated. Who you are, though, is Aud."

"Odd? Like an odd ball?"

"No, Aud, A-U-D. Aud."

"That's stupid. Why is that my name?"

"Because I said it is."

"How about Audrey? It still as Aud in it."

"You won't catch me calling you that anytime soon. I was just trying to be… domestic. Things like you don't have names. "

"Things like me?" Audrey questioned, "You mean things like seven-year-old girls?"


	11. Just Couldn't Do It

"Oh god. She's right." Buffy's voice cracked and she glanced away, staring blankly at the wall.

"No. No she's not." Tara insisted, "Willow… she's… upset. We all are. But just because the two of you may have lost someone closer to you than Anya, it doesn't mean we can just let her go. She could hurt innocent people, us, herself. Anya is my friend, and yours, and Willow's, and everyone else's. You know as well as I do that we can't just let her destroy herself like this. At least, I can't."

Tara leaned back on the couch, almost out of breath from her speech. B stared at her.

"You are quite the speech speaker, out you?" Her lame attempt at a joke flopped. They sat there in silence for a while, staring at walls and vases and chairs until they heard the slam of a door upstairs. Willow burst into the room suddenly with her jacket draped over her arm. She had a look of business draped across her face.

"Let's go."

Giles started vigorously rubbing his glasses. Janice stared at him.

"Does he always do that?" She questioned. Dawn nodded. Silence was the big key right now. No one was talking, not even Giles proposing his theories.

"This is really lame."

"Janice!" Dawn shouted, not believing her best friend had just said something so rude.

"Hey, no offense or anything, but this is not my idea of action. Let's go kick some witchy ass!"

Giles shook his head and started to mumble something, but Dawn suddenly interrupted.

"We aren't trying to _hurt _Anya. We're trying to _help _ her."

Janice slumped down on the counter, seeming disappointed.

"Um, perhaps we should go back to the house. The others may be home now." Giles finally put his suggestion in. They looked to him, eagerly awaiting his explanation.

"They may have found out something."

Buffy had no idea where Tara was leading them. Sure, the woods, but what would a house- a place, be doing all the way out here? It was in the middle of nowhere.

"Tara- are you sure…" Willow questioned. Both Buffy and Tara were still shocked from her getting over her fit, but they didn't question anything.

"I'm sure. He gave me specific directions. Kind of."

"Kind of? We could be going exactly the wrong way! What if we get lost?" Buffy began to panic when Tara suddenly stopped. She looked strait ahead at something, although Buffy saw nothing but trees and grass and woodsy stuff.

Willow took a deep breath.

"There it is."

"Huh? Where?" Buffy questioned, thinking the two witches were getting crazier than ever.

"H-he said it c-could only be seen with the 'witch's eye.' So, that's why, I guess, that you can't see anything." Tara calmly explained.

Willow closed her eyes and took another deep breath. Then she muttered something and raised her hand.

Buffy gasped as suddenly, a huge building appeared in front of her.

Willow remained silent, her glance away from both of them. She hadn't wanted to give in to magic, but this, right now, was necessary.

A loud scream broke the still of the air. Instinctively, all three of them took a step back. Not two seconds later, something came hurtling out the third floor window. Okay, so Anya came hurtling out the third floor window.

Buffy, Willow, and Tara watched as Anya twisted in the air until she was standing upright, then slowed herself down just in time to have her feet safely touching the ground.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Anya shouted at them.

"We're-"

"Trying to help you." Anya mocked. "That's all you want to do Buffy. Help, help, help. Maybe you can just help yourself for once and _stay away._" Without any warning, Buffy was flung into the air and seemed to sail through it until she was out of sight.

"Anya! What'd you do?" Willow shouted, but in response, was tossed against a tree, knocking her out.

Tara took a step back cautiously, eyeing the enemy.

Anya raised her hand, and Tara braced herself for the worse. It seemed forever when Tara finally realized that Anya had not done anything, but still had her hand raised. Her eyes shimmered. But it just must have been the light in the woods. Anya opened her mouth to say something. Tara had to strain to hear her.

"_Just leave me alone."_

Anya shimmered out of sight.


	12. Some Kind of Dramatic Stuff

Anya stalked angrily into the house. Buffy and the others think they can just storm over to her place and say "I'm sorry" to stop her from carrying out her evil plan. Yeah, right. She didn't even have an evil plan. Whatever. Right now, she had other problems, and by the time she made her way up to the third floor, she was steaming.

"What was that? You- you don't do that!" Anya screamed at the sneering girl.

"I didn't mean to. Guess I'm pretty powerful, too then." Audrey scoffed. She focused her gaze on one of the chairs down below. It moved a few feet. "I can move things with my eyes." She smiled proudly.

"It's called _telekinesis._ And I don't know how you got it because Xander was nothing special. He was just a human."

"I guess you hated that guy."

"Hate, love, all the same."

Audrey stared at her for a second, then said, "So I'm his… daughter?"

"Kind of. Magically, his blood is in you."

"Oh, okay." Anya wasn't sure about how well this was going with the girl. How, amazingly, she accepted and understood it all. She must have also the knowledge from Xander that demons and witches and all that exists. But the girl just threw her out the window! Using telekinesis for cripes sakes! She wasn't just some ordinary magical kid. She threw her some sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt she had found on this floor.

"Put these on. You can't go around wearing that blanket." The girl took the clothes and scurried into a nearby room.

"When are you gonna actually call me by my name?" Audrey shouted from the other room.

"Never. Get used to it."

Willow groaned as Tara picked her up off the ground. She leaned, sitting against the trunk of the tree as her head throbbed.

"Got hit by the Anya Express." She mumbled, rubbing her forehead.

"Oh, god, what about Buffy? What happened to her? We have to go find her." Tara panicked. She got Willow to her feet, then started running. She looked back, just to see Willow sitting down again.

"Will- come on. We have to go now or they'll be one pissed off witch right on our tails."

"I can't."

"Willow! Buffy could be seriously hurt!" Tara started running back to Willow, but she tripped. She fell right onto Willow's legs as a sharp stinging went through her body.

"Oh. Will- sorry." Tara moaned, lifting herself up. Willow looked at her, then back at her legs.

"That's okay. I didn't feel it. I didn't feel anything."

When Giles, Dawn, and Janice arrived back at the house, no one was there. They peeked around some, but the house was just like it usually was, normal. But there was nothing normal about this. Janice headed upstairs.

"Where are you going?" Dawn questioned, flopping down on the couch.

"Uh, just to the bathroom. It's up here, right?" Dawn nodded as she watched Janice make her way up the stairs.

"Giles?"

"Um, yes Dawn?" He replied, taking off his glasses and rubbing his forehead.

"Is this real?"

Giles looked up at Dawn, then back down at his feet. "I'm afraid so." He mumbled to his feet.

"Because it keeps seeming like Xander just isn't here. Like he's at his apartment or at the Magic Box or something. But he's not. He'll never be. But I believe that's what we all are thinking. That he's somewhere else right now, and that we have to help Anya get through something. Like it always is. We always help each other out. Even when someone even more important to us is gone. Except this time, that person isn't just gone. He's dead. And I think I'm the only one who sees that."

Giles nodded.

Janice didn't go upstairs because she had to go to the bathroom. She went upstairs because she was curious. A coven? She couldn't imagine Anya being too evil. I mean, Dawn over exaggerated a lot.

She peeked into the rooms to find one that must have been Dawn's, and another one, either Willow or Buffy's. She stepped into it, flicking the light on. Their was a queen sized bed, and not much else except a dresser and windows. This room had been picked dry of personality. What caught her attention, though, were the various papers sprawled across the dresser. She walked over and grabbed one. Reading it over, she smiled.

"Janice?" Dawn called as Janice nearly skipped ten steps down the stairs.

"I, um, gotta go. You know, it's really late and this is getting kinda weird for my taste." She slammed the door so hard in her hurry that Dawn could feel the vibration.

What was up with her?

Buffy could clearly recall the horror of flying through the air like a bullet. Luckily, it was dark, so she was left unseen. But that wasn't her biggest problem right now. Landing would probably be the hardest part. She closed her eyes, hoping that when she opened them, it would be a nightmare.

No luck. When she reopened her eyes, she discovered that she was sailing towards the ground. She glanced something then, like a shadow. Someone was walking down the street. Did they see her? Buffy panicked as she got even closer, and braced herself for her death-worthy landing. Suddenly, though, she stopped in mid air and started floating down gently until her feet touched the ground. She breathed a sigh of relief. But- what just happened? She looked towards the person she had seen before, but now they were running away. It looked like- no. But it couldn't be.

Janice?


	13. A Small Journey

Audrey came out of the bedroom. She was drowning in the pants.

"This isn't right. I feel like one of those people who sleep, drink, and live on a bus bench." She pulled uncomfortably at the pants.

For a second, a sting singed Anya at how similar the girl's humor was to Xander's. But it passed. She looked at the girl, then at the pants.

"Listen, take my hand."

As Anya took Audrey's hand firmly in hers, she realized how weird it was, and how she'd never held the hand of someone this young. She teleported them quickly out.

"What do you mean, you can't feel anything!?" Tara shrieked.

"I mean I've lost all feeling in my legs!" Willow screamed back. She concentrated on shifting her legs, but nothing happened. "I can't move them."

"So you're PARALYZED!?"

"Well, maybe not. Maybe it's just… temporary." Willow smiled, trying to sound calm, but the fear shook her voice.

"Okay, we have to go see a doctor NOW!" Tara yelled. Willow wanted to back away, she'd never seen Tara like this. Tara being angry, yelling… almost didn't exist.

"What are they going to do?"

"I don't know!" Tara pulled at her hair then rose up from the ground, running to stand in front of the building. "Anya, you get out here NOW!"

"She's not going to come out, Tara. And she's not going to help me. You know that. Let's just get home."

"And how, exactly, do you propose we do that?"

"Well, you're going to have to carry me."

"All the way home? That's- a lot of miles!"

"Do you have a phone? Do I have a phone? We can't call for help."

"Okay, okay. But it's not going to be fun."

"Where _are _we?" Audrey questioned, looking around her in surprise.

Anya glanced down at the little girl, letting go of her hand quickly.

"We're at JCPenney. Why, do you need more sophisticated clothes?"

"I mean, how'd we get here?"

"Teleportation. It's a demon thing." Anya said matter-of-factly, pulling open the huge double doors. The girl followed close behind.

"Demon? I thought you were a witch." She replied as a husky man in a stretched blue sweatshirt walked by. He gave them a puzzling glance.

"Hey, no talk of supernatural stuff in public."

"Well, you were."

"There wasn't anybody walking by! People will think I'm crazy!"

"Well, aren't you?"

Anya glared at the girl. Audrey then glanced around, and, seeing nobody near, leaned closer to Anya and whispered;

"So, you're a demon, too?"

"Well, yeah." Anya replied impatiently, lowering her voice. "That's what I was first, but I don't have enough power as a demon to do what I want to, so now I'm a witch, too. Got it?"

Audrey nodded, then, spying a rack of ruffled, flowery shirts, shot Anya a pleading look.

"Knock yourself out. I'm a witch. I can have as much money as I want." With that statement, she opened her palms to reveal a stack of fifty dollar bills.

"Whoa! That's cool! Is their more?"

"As much as I want there to be. Now go get some pants that'll fit you." With this statement, the little girl ran off and practically took off every pair of pants and shirt off the rack. Anya laughed. Then she realized what she had done. She hadn't laughed in so long, it felt weird.

"Mom! Mom! I want that, and that, and please, can have this?" A little freckled, red-haired girl held up a tank top with butterflies on it.

"We'll see. Go pick some things out." The girl dashed off and nearly ran straight into Audrey, and the both of them started giggling for no apparent reason.

The woman standing next to Anya turned to her.

"Are you glad you had a girl?" The woman's question took Anya slightly by surprise.

"Oh… she's…" Anya was going to say that she wasn't hers, but decided against it for the sake of being less awkward. "I guess. I mean, boys are- they're- well, boys."

The woman nodded, her face growing serious.

"I think being a mom was the best choice I ever made." The woman stated, staring admiringly at her daughter sifting through the clothes rack. "Don't you think so."

Anya wasn't quite sure what to say, so she just nodded. But it was weird, being thought of as a mom, and truthfully, she didn't like it at all.


	14. Six Hundred Dollars?

Tara burst through the front door, exhausted. She flopped down on the couch and sat Willow beside her. That was when Giles walked into the room, rubbing his head.

"Oh, good, you're alright." Giles said, his voice sounded wasted away. Tara could hear the attempted enthusiasm in his voice as he collapsed in a chair across from them.

"Um, yeah, except kind of not really." Willow tried an innocent smile.

"She has no feeling in her legs." Tara whispered, not wanting to be too loud. She was guessing that Dawn was asleep upstairs.

"Oh, dear." He paused, "Are you sure?"

Willow rolled her eyes slightly and gave him a "duh" look.

Giles shook his head. "How did this happen?"

Willow gave him the "duh" look again. He nodded slowly.

"We're going to have to call an ambulance, then."

"Oh, but isn't t-t-that loud?" Tara worried, "W-won't it wake Dawnie? I don't want her to get upset."

"She probably not sleeping, anyway."

"But- don't you have your car?"

"Yes, I guess so… but…"

Willow sighed loudly. "Why don't you guys just load me on into his car, okay? I don't want an ambulance! Those are loud and I don't want so much fuss made and they cost six hundred dollars to ride in!"

"Willow, you could be paralyzed." Tara sighed.

Giles stared at her. "Six hundred dollars?"

(Scene cut thing)

"Hey, is anyone there?" Janice stared at the looming building in front of her.

"No!" Came the small shout back.

"Can you let me in? I- I'm interested in your coven!" She shouted to the door. A few second passed, and then the door opened a crack. A small face peered out at her.

"Go away."

"I thought Anya lived here…"

"Please go away?" The girl said in a question format, as if being more polite would drive her away.

"Oh, please." Janice muttered sarcastically. "I know she's there."

The door shut again, and just when Janice was about to pound on it again, it opened once more.

"Hi there. Anya says she knows it's a trick. Leave now." The little girl chirped, starting to close the door again.

"No, it's not. They didn't send me. I came here because I wanted to." She insisted, pressing her hand against the door to keep her from closing it.

"No. Leave!" The girl struggled to shove the door shut, but Janice held it in place. Then, in horrified fascination, she watched as the door began to dissipate under Janice's palm. First the outer edges of the door began to melt away, slowly creeping around and around until Janice only held a small section of steel in her hand. Anya stood slightly back from the now open doorway.

"Uh… you can come in."

(A.N. I know this chapter's kind of short, but I'm making progress people! I'm just not sure what I should do with Willow's situation. Should she stay paralyzed, or maybe it's only temporary, maybe they have to amputate her legs or something, I dunno. If you have any suggestions, that would be excellent. Thanx for reading :) )


	15. Testing

Dawn threw her head back in impatience and banged it loudly on the wall. "Ow." She whispered more to herself than anyone. Buffy turned to her.

"Smart, Dawn."

"Well, sorry. I'm just- nervous. I mean, what's up with Willow?" She directed her question more towards Tara, but Buffy stepped in anyway.

"See, this is why we didn't want to wake you. You had to go wake up and follow us anyway. That's your choice." She seemed to be finished as she turned away from Dawn. Tara leaned in to her, lowering her voice.

"She's a little testy, huh?" Dawn smiled at that.

"Tara? What _is _up with Willow?" She prodded. Tara's face whitened.

"S-she couldn't feel her legs. I don't think she's paralyzed or anything. It's probably just tempory." Tara's voice, though, came out as doubtful. Dawn placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure she'll be fine." Tara nodded at that and the doctor emerged from the room, a clipboard tucked under his arm. From the look on his face, the news did not seem to be too good. Tara and Buffy rose at his entrance as he brushed a hand through his rough, dark hair. He cleared his throat.

"Tara Maclay and Buffy Summers?" He questioned. They nodded.

"I-Is she going to b-be okay?" Tara stammered eagerly. The doctor narrowed his eyes at her.

"How did you say this happened again?" The doctor scratched his chin, studying the two women. Buffy spoke up first.

"We were... just on- the trampoline. And she flipped off and landed upside down against a tree."

"Hmmm. This is a rare case." The doctor scratched his chin again and glanced down at his clipboard. He said no more.

"W-what? _What's_ a rare case?" Tara questioned him eagerly. He seemed to think deeply before answering.

"The one your friend has been diagnosed with. It's called hypinther-"

"The name's not important." Buffy said sternly. "What does it mean?"

"Well, then." The doctor sighed, obviously offended by her rudeness, "It means she's paralyzed."

"Paralyzed? You mean- forever?" Buffy questioned. Tara stood in stony silence as a graven look washed over the young doctor's face.

"Well... there's more to it than that. This disease... I've only heard of it once before and even then it wasn't a patient anywhere near this country."

"Well what is it!?" Buffy cried, growing more anxious by the minute.

"If you would let me talk..." The man shot Buffy a stern look and she closed her mouth quickly. "It starts with paralyzation in one area. As you know, it's the legs. The paralyzation then moves and spreads itself throughout the body. The problem is, it doesn't only paralyze nerves. It paralyzes organs, also. In fact, anything relating to the organ system. Veins, arteries, etc. I'm so sorry to say this, but there's nothing we can do. Once it hits the heart..." The doctor trailed off in his words at the shock in Tara's and Buffy's eyes. Dawn let out a gasp, Giles staring at the floor in stony silence.

"Oh my god." Was all Buffy said. Tara didn't even glance at the others and ran down the nearest set of stairs.

"I-I've never seen anything like it. I mean, it is rare when it happens, and, if it does, it's usual progressive. There's symptoms. This is a disease, not something that happens from falling off a trampoline. No symptoms, no trace of former viruses that led to this... it's almost..."

"Almost what?" Buffy questioned in a shaky voice. The doctor shook his head, frowning.

"Almost like magic."

Anya stood aback from the doorway with her mouth hanging open. Janice stood defiantly before her, closing her fists.

"I told you it wasn't a trick."

Anya studied her carefully, still in shock from what just happened. She felt something dark within her pulse. She turned her glance to Audrey.

"Hey, you. Go to your room." She commanded, pointing at the spirling staircase. Audrey hung her head and stomped up the stairs, annoyed. Janice glanced at the girl and stepped into the house.

"Who's the tot?" She questioned. Anya eyed her.

"First you have to answer my question. What are you doing here? And step back outside. Now." Janice smiled evily at Anya's prompt.

"I like it better in here." At this, Janice took the notion to walk around the large area, running her hand along the wall. Anya narrowed her eyes at her. "I wasn't sent here by Dawn, if that's what you're wondering. In fact, she's been getting on my nerves lately. Or wait... maybe that was ever since I met her." Janice laughed, but it was more of a dry cough. Anya felt something catch in her throat. Was it... fear? She shook the feeling off.

"Get out of here now. I don't care who sent you."

"No one sent me, Anya. But a little Brit told me something about a... coven? Yes, that's right. Coven." Janice's eyes seemed to darken and her voice lowered to a harsh rasp. "And I want to join it." Without any warning, Janice shot her palms forward, sending Anya flying up and bursting through the upstairs banister. _ "So stop telling me to get out." _ Janice sounded the words out, letting out another "laugh" at the sight of Anya weak. But her enjoyment didn't last long. To Janice's surprise, Anya stood up with no hesitation, brushing the splinters from her shirt.

"You," Anya said, letting out a surprisingly strong laugh, "You just don't know," With that, Anya walked calmly off the balcony, landing smoothly on the first floor in front of Janice, "You just don't know how powerful I am, do you?" Janice smiled at that.

"Oh, I knew. I was just testing you."

Anya rolled her eyes and whispered something under her breath. Janice levitated into the air as a strange ring appeared around her neck. She flew her hands to it, but let out a cry as it gave her a shock of enery.

"Janice," the ring grew smaller, "Each time I say your name, that ring will grow smaller under it eventually beheads you." Anya opened her mouth and a sick laugh emerged. Janice let out another cry.

"Is it funny now to test Anya, Janice!?" She cried in first person speech as the ring grew tighter once more.

"NO!" Janice screamed. Anya nodded and whispered something once again. Janice fell to the ground and grabbed her now ringless throat.

"Good. I was just testing you."

(A.N. I know, ANOTHER short chapter but I can't cram everything into one, you know? Short chapters are the way I work, with lots of them instead of less longer chapters. You know? Catchin' my drift? Ha ha. My horse listened to me when I said that to her once. Hey, she's thirty but good with her slang. Thanx for reading.)


	16. The Leader

Tara sighed. She had been by Willow's side for the last few hours, but she was still knocked out by the medication she had been given. Tara hadn't yet faced the fact that Willow was going to die. Something in her told her that this would all be fixed.

Buffy sat across from Tara. She didn't dare even glance at her. Buffy knew her eyes would reveal what she really thought. _I'm going to lose my best friend. I lost Xander and now I'm going to lose Willow, too._ Buffy looked out the window at the sun shining down on the trees. _It's not supposed to be this cheerful. Willow's dying. The world should be mourning. _Buffy let out a breath of air, rising to her feet. She couldn't take being in the room anymore. She wanted to say something to Tara but she was at a loss for words and just strolled silently out of the room.

_Everyone around me is dying_. Dawn thought. _First mom, then Xander, now Willow. I'm bad luck. It's my fault. It's my fault Buffy died. At least Willow brought her back. _Dawn almost sighed out loud in relief, but it ended briefly. _Willow._

Giles leaned his head against the wall. He hadn't wanted to admit it to any of them, but when the Council had told him what happened to Xander, he had run straight to his room and sobbed until even glasses hadn't helped his sight. He was Giles. He was their mentor, their wall. He was supposed to be strong for them. But Giles didn't feel strong at the moment. He felt so weak, everything was hurling out of control. Willow was dying, and he wasn't sure if he could handle that. But suddenly, the wave of nauseous sadness that had been there was replaced by a roaring fire of rage. This was all Anya's fault. Everyone wanted to feel sorry for her, but how could they? She infected Willow. She's the one causing Willow to suffer, to die, to take another life from them. Giles turned around quickly to face the bright lights of the hospital. A sudden power overtook him and he clenched his jaw shut. Dawn seemed out of it, not noticing he was even there. Buffy stood in the hall across from him, gazing out the window. This was his chance. Giles moved swiftly down the stairs and out the hospital door, the birds greeting him too cheerfully.

"Some people are outside." Audrey sighed exasperatingly, rolling her eyes. "When is all this chaos going to stop?" She plopped down on the staircase. "Really, it's getting so irksome."

Anya ignored her, rushing to the new wood door she had built with a quick, shaky spell. She didn't bother asking who it was. She could feel Ashan's strong vibe from where she was standing. Anya opened the door, and, sure enough, the dark-eyed girl stood in front of her, this time her black hair waving freely down her back. Five girls stood behind her. Anya recognized Reese from her bright red hair. Inya, whose blond hair was cropped close to her head, stood slightly behind her. There were three other girls that Anya didn't recognize, but she gestured for them to come in never the less. Janice stood behind Anya, raising her eyebrow curiously at the new arrivals. Ashan drilled her eyes into hers, causing Janice to glance nervously down at the ground. Ashan turned to Anya, nodding her head towards the pack of girls.

"You remember Inya and Reese, right?" She questioned, her deep voice sending chills down Anya's spine. She nodded. Ashan nodded also, as if in agreement. She motioned to a dark-skinned girl with a high, graceful ponytail snaking down her back. Her blue eyes shone brightly. "This is Rhea." Ashan whispered as the girl nodded at the sound of her name. Ashan pointed to a petite girl next to Rhea whose long brown curls matched perfectly with her eyes. "That's Ardennais and that-" Ashan continued pointing to another brunette, her hair resting on her shoulders. "That's Akhal."

"That's a lot of A-names to keep straight." Inya chuckled, but no one laughed with her. "You know, Ashan, Ardennais, Akhal, Anya." Eyes were rolled at Inya while Audrey piped up from the staircase.

"And me, Audrey."

The girls looked perplexed, but the only one with enough courage to speak up was Ashan. "Who is she?" Ashan questioned, raising her eyebrows. She gave Audrey the look-over. Anya hesitated in answering, therefore Audrey took the reins.

"Well, I'm her daughter, of course."

Ardennais, then, at that point, decided to interject. "You have a daughter!?" She voiced everyone's thoughts.

Anya rolled her eyes slightly. "_Metaphorically. _She was brought here by a spell I did. We'll need her for what we'll be doing."

Reese took another step forward into the house. She glanced from Inya to Ashan, as if she needed their approval. Ashan nodded and Reese opened her mouth to speak. "What, Anya, exactly _are _we doing?"

Anya took a few steps forward until her face was about two inches away from Reese's. "You're the youngest, aren't you, Reese?"

There was silence from her, and Anya gave her a look, that said, "Go on, answer." Reese nodded solemnly.

"Okay, then. Shouldn't, you Reese, be the smartest, brightest, one here?"

Reese seemed to grind her teeth together. "Maybe I am, Anya. But I would like to know what we are getting ourselves into before you deceive us."

Anya scoffed internally at this, but the other girls, even Ashan, looked frightened. Surprisingly, Reese opened her mouth to speak again.

"I'm the leader here, and I just want to know what we're doing!"

There was a glare shot from Ashan to Reese at this statement, and Inya looked as if she was about to turn around and run. The others huddled far behind, hoping to shield themselves.

"You're the leader?"

Janice hung by the staircase with Audrey, for she knew what would happen to Reese.

Reese seemed to grow more unsure of herself, however, took the notion to nod anyway.

At this, Anya whipped her hand down and grabbed hold of Reese's hand, who's face grew frightened. Anya began to stare down at the palm of Reese's hand. Reese began to scream, though the others could see nothing wrong with her. Anya released her hand and Reese lifted it to her face, shrieking. Anya smiled and began running a hand through Reese's hair.

"What pretty, red hair." Anya muttered. Suddenly her face twisted with anger and she let go of Reese's hair, stepping back.

With her other hand, Reese grabbed her own hair, looking at it and letting out a blood-curdling screech. She tore at it until bits of it started coming out, then clumps.

Anya laughed cruelly, but grew serious suddenly. "Okay, Reese, stop it. There's nothing the matter with you."

But Reese didn't stop. She tore around the room, screaming her lungs out until blood started spurting from her mouth with every shriek. Anya's head pounded. She had had enough. "STOP IT NOW!" She shouted and, with one swift hand motion, tossed Reese into the air and slammed her against the wall. Reese fell to the floor in a crumpled pile.

Ashan looked directly at Anya. "She's dead! You... you killed her!"

Anya faced the now terrified girls coldly.

"I'm the leader here."


End file.
